This invention relates to an apparatus for identifying and storing documents.
A conventional apparatus for identifying and storing two kinds of documents must be equipped with two container boxes, one for each kinds. Such an apparatus therefor must be deactivated when the fixed document storage space of one box is full, even though the other container may have space in reserve.
An apparatus for identifying and storing documents of the type disclosed by, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Publication (OPI) No. 673/85 solves this problem. That apparatus comprises a container box having openings on its sides facing each other, the box is equipped with a pair of partitions installed therein and so energized as to drift away from each other toward the respective openings. In the apparatus thus proposed, the documents inserted through an inlet are identified by an identifying means and the documents thus inserted and identified are sorted by a sorting mechanism and transferred to one of two receiver units. When the document is received by either receiver unit, a push member is reciprocated to force the document into the container box through the opening. On the back surface of each partition is detecting means for detecting when the space between the two partitions has reached predetermined limit indicating that one of the storage spaces is full.
Apparatus for identifying and storing documents with separate container boxes, each containing prescribed types of documents or with one container box, as proposed above, must be equipped with a pair of push members and driving means to force the documents into each container box. This makes such apparatus complicated to construct, overly large and too expensive.
In the apparatus with one container box, in particular, the sorting mechanism and the means for driving the sorting mechanism made the apparatus too large, and too complicated and expensive.
In the case of the apparatus for identifying and storing documents with one container box, as proposed above, the means for detecting the full condition are arranged on the back surfaces of the partitions installed in the container box. As a consequence, energizing means must be included to provide a strong energizing force for pushing the partitions away from each other. The push members for forcing documents into the container box need to overcome this strong energizing force, so the means for driving the push members must be large. In addition to the above drawbacks, the moving partitions are subjected to shocks every time a document is inserted into the container box. Thus, the detecting means may fail or break loose due to such shocks.